Proving You Wrong, Again
by JstaSimpleWriter
Summary: The Stjarnagarm hired a mercenary to suppress the riots by Genestella supremacists. After he proven himself resourceful, he was brought on its Dark List team for several years before stepping down from force. Brought in again because an academy trying to rig the Festas in their favor, he began working with Sylvia Lyyneheym on other mundane cases, others more bizarre.


**As the title implies, this is a rewrite of To Prove You Wrong. I'll be changing the background of the characters and adding some of my own to make things different and more interesting than the original, but Ethan's goal will essentially be the same. Hunting down Ophelia and also the Doctor that gave her her powers, the same one who gave him his.**

**I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

_Sylvia Lyyneheym hugged the coat closer to her as she watched the crime scene impassively._

_The victim lived, but so heavily injured she wasn't sure if he would be able to recover within the month._

_"Nothing again?" Her voice was monotonous._

_The officer shook his head solemnly, "Like all other victims, nothing. We can see where there are damages to property, but so far it seems all injuries came from the victim."_

_He stopped and looked around, sighing, "If any of the previous calls are to go by, we aren't finding anything except we know someone's actually been here."_

_Sylvia nodded her thanks, and the officer stopped her._

_"I know this is unprofessional, but it's an honor to meet you in person." Sylvia smiled and stuck out her hand, which he eagerly shook._

_"Thank you, it's a pleasure."_

_"Good luck in your search, detective." She nodded, grateful at the fact he wasn't overzealous like other colleagues she. Even years after she put a hiatus on her previous career on stage, she could never avoid the overeager fans._

_Which is why she preferred working overnight as a detective for the Stjarnagarm._

_She didn't exactly want to give up her old career, but she was intrigued with a job inside the police force._

_Needless to say, she made it through the academy with ease and was assigned to be trained with several senior members._

_Unfortunately, her partner was injured in their last case, and was now being hospitalized for a broken leg and several broken ribs._

_This was the first case she was taking alone. While she was taught on handling cases as a singleton, and she wasn't the first, it still made her uneasy going through her routine without a second angle._

_She noted the cameras and blinked._

_That was a first, no victim before this had ever installed cameras into their home. She got the attention of one officer and pointed out the system. Within minutes, they found where the footage was being stored and gathered everything._

* * *

"Impressive," Helga commented and Sylvia frowned.

"Not really, anyone could have found the camera system."

The lieutenant smiled, "No, I mean after all that."

Sylvia shook her head, "Even with what we got, and what I deduced, we couldn't find anyone on the cameras from streets around. We were lucky to have a restaurant across the apartment, but the camera only captured people entering and leaving. The puppet appeared from nowhere.

"Means it really is an autonomous model, or it has an extremely long range." Sylvia let the information sink in. "Which is scary in itself considering the puppet had a huge range of motion, not to mention the puppeteer knew every step Linus took."

Helga Lindwall leaned back in her chair, sighing as she ran a hand through her hair. "I'll be stepping over some lines here, Sylvia, so I would appreciate it if you kept this quiet."

Sylvia perked up, knowing Helga liked to play by the rules, especially with the Integrated Enterprise Foundation breathing down her neck. They _did_ give her more leniency on the actions she took, but she still preferred to be safe rather than sorry.

"There's a man who used to work for us," she began. "Mostly retired, but I think he'll work with you."

Besides that, Helga gave no more details, which left Sylvia slightly suspicious, despite working for Helga her entire career. "What do I do when I meet him? Tell him everything?"

"You can, he can be trusted."

"Why won't you contact him yourself?" Sylvia asked. Helga coughed into a hand and looked away. Though she didn't blush, her embarrassment was obvious.

"He might have blocked me and all my contacts."

"Is that a bad thing? Wouldn't that mean he doesn't want to be contacted?"

Helga shook her head, "Some of the Stjarnagarm and Dark's List, the same people as _you_, have spoken and used his help over the past several years. He just refused contact with me specifically."

"You're not sending me out anywhere dangerous?" Sylvia asked skeptically.

"No. Well, he himself is dangerous, but if you don't provoke him, you should not come to any harm."

Sylvia pursed her lips unhappily, "I think I'll work alone on this case until it is solved."

Helga looked at her in the eyes, "We have the Phoenix Festa in a few weeks. You made the link that these people were candidates likely to win. That's still thirty students critically injured or killed, Sylvia. If you fail, you and everyone on the case will be taking the fallout, you know this, right?"

She nodded.

"Then what do you have that nobody else has? What lead do you have that won't put us in the same spot we were in just two days ago? Tell me, and you can leave for tonight. You give me nothing, I will send you his way." Sylvia was surprised she was adamant on the issue, and was hurt at the lack of faith.

Then again, they had been chasing this puppeteer for over three months. Sylvia turned around, irritated, and reluctantly said, "I'll pay him a visit."

"Good, his address is already sent to you, but please decrypt it, I've shifted it 5 to the left." Sylvia turned around, now alarmed, but Helga was ahead of her, "I told you he does all he can to shut me out. I don't want him to refuse to speak to you before you even approach his gate."

Sylvia nodded and decrypted the mess of characters before she entered her car, putting the gear into drive and speeding down the road towards the residential area north of the station.

She took in the appearance of the houses, a modest area that wasn't the slums, but not quite wealthy either. Which made it a good place to stay out of sight in.

She parked on the curb of his home and stepped out, making sure her hair was tucked into a beanie and out of sight. Sylvia pushed open the gate and shut it behind her carefully.

She thought she heard a dog bark somewhere in the distance as she approached the door and waited before knocking as she strained to listen for movement.

A young man opened the door, making her take a step back at his age.

He appeared no older than she was, maybe even her age, if his appearance was truthful. At the most, he was barely out of his twenties and no older than thirty-five. His face was shaven, chin and lip lacking any hair. His eyes brown and calm, though she could see his eyes take in her appearance as he ran through who she was and why she was here.

She managed to utter, "You're young!"

He tilted his head, quickly making the connection on why she was here with her response, "Newcomer, huh? Unless you're like the Jie Long president, you're no older than I am."

"I meant no offense," she quickly corrected herself, "It's just that when Helga told me about you, I expected someone much older for someone retired."

He scowled and Sylvia cursed inwardly when she realized she slipped up Helga's name.

"Guess she didn't tell you I want nothing to do with her mess, right?"

"Actually, yes."

He seemed taken aback but he began to shut the door, "Then leave. Dunno why you're here."

She put a foot through the opening, preventing it from being closed, and the dog that stayed quietly in the back of the room immediately stood, "Look. What I'm asking for has nothing to do with her. She only sent me your way because I need help."

He glared at her and muttered, "Fine. Doesn't look like you'll leave anyway."

The man opened the door and beckoned her in, the dog staying put again. "The moment I figure out Helga wants me to help her with dirty work, I'm going to ask you to leave only once. If I ask again, Monty and I will escort you out, and as kindly as we can."

Sylvia nodded.

"And don't bother coming back until you need help with a case that didn't her hands dipped into it."

She nodded again. He led her to the kitchen and waved at the cabinet and fridge, "Find whatever you like, and bring it to the coffee table in the living room. What do you want to drink?"

"Just water." Sylvia poured a bag of chips out onto a bowl and brought it to the table as he set two glasses of water on the table. She slid the bowl over and he gave a tiny smile as he picked one.

"I've never introduced myself. Ethan Trent."

"American?" Sylvia asked curiously.

"Right."

"I'm Sylvia Lyyneheym," she said after his reply. He raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"Explains your beanie."

She smiled shyly and removed it, "I-"

"Didn't want the attention. I know," he chuckled. "I won't bug you on that, though a fan of your work. Favorite single is 'Hello to You.'"

Sylvia couldn't help but beam, "That is my favorite work! I made it after I broke up with..."

She shook her head, "Sorry. I'm getting ahead of myself."

He smirked and ate another chip, "So, what brings you here?"

She laid out the case, the first time someone was attacked by the puppets, which sparked the investigations, ultimately leading nowhere, until the next two assaults.

Sylvia then explained that she made the connection of the victims being the front-runners of the Phoenix Festa, and she gave the complete list of the competitors accepted into ICU, along with a list of those competing in the Phoenix Festa.

Ethan listened intently, nodding at specific points and taking down notes.

She went on to tell him about the video recordings from the latest victim and he seemed to pay a little more attention at the findings about the attackers being manually-controlled puppets.

Before he could say anything, Sylvia told him they found nobody controlling the puppet nearby. She knew the model had to be manually manipulated, but either that person was far away from the crime scene, or there were advances made to the ADMU-52.

"So Helga said you might be able to help, maybe see things from a different angle, or actively aid the investigation."

He nodded and popped another chip into his mouth, "Ah, she didn't mention that I charge for my services, didn't she?"

She blinked and sat back, "What?"

He shrugged, "That's my business, you know? I'll do some work, whether it is like yours, or maybe private investigations, maybe even a hit, but I charge."

Sylvia shook her head, astonished he told her this.

He sighed, "If you don't have the money now, maybe we can work something out."

When she didn't reply, he looked up, but her heart was pounding and anger was boiling, "'Work something out? Who do you think I am? I'm not doing anything to satisfy your needs. I don't know why Helga trusts you, but heed my words, I don't and _**I won't**_."

She stood up as he did and she stormed out the door, hearing Monty whine as its ear drooped. "Keep your filthy business to yourself," she spat over her shoulder, slamming the door and getting into her car, letting out a hard exhale, before closing her eyes and controlling her temper.

She wouldn't ever face that exploitation again. Not after Kellam. Never again.

Making a call and after double checking she didn't have anything to do, she drove home and knocked out on the bed, feeling only a few minutes pass before she was awoken by a phone call.

Sylvia muttered her displeasure, but noted that she slept for eight hours, the noon sun blazing as brightly as it could through the thick, grey clouds.

Her phone rang again and she cursed, pulling on a jacket before answering, "Detective Lyyneheym."

_[It's Sam, another attack.]_

She sat up, reciting the address the detective gave and started the ignition, driving away towards the central area at Seidoukan.

She got to the avenue leading to Seidoukan before running into traffic, and she made sure to text Sammy Neil of the delay.

Finding spot at a parking complex, Sylvia jogged over to the fountain the attack happened. Fortunately, the targets of this attack were safe.

She frowned when she saw a new person speaking to students. Approaching Sammy, Sylvia got her attention, "Hey Sam, who is that?"

"Oh, him? Let me introduce you two."

They headed over and the students looked their way, and as the new detective turned, Sylvia stopped.

Ethan.

And even Monty was present, the German Shepard padding up to Sylvia as it wagged its tail. She bent down to pat it and it nosed her hand with its black snout as Ethan approached.

"Hey," he said, before handing Sylvia a notepad, "I got these off of them."

Sam looked astonished that Sylvia knew him, and even more when she grabbed his arm and pulled him away, Monty trotting after them, panting with its tongue hanging out.

"I should have chosen my words better, but by no means did I mean anything sexual," Ethan said quietly once they were far away. "I simply meant favors or possibly-"

He cleared his throat, "Fuck. I simply meant I help you this once and if I need help you give me back the information or help I need. That's all. I charge only because I prefer to have some cash on me if I need to leave. It's too complicated to explain now, but if we get time to really talk, I think you'll understand why."

Sylvia furrowed her eyebrows, "Okay fine, say I believe you. Then what are you doing here?"

"Think of it as a free trial. Not to mention Sam hired me."

"You know Sam?" she asked in shock.

"Of course. She's one of the regulars. I don't often help actively like this, but I guide. It must be pretty serious for her to pay me to step in."

"So what did you find so far?" Ethan pointed to the legal pad and walked back, Sylvia following after him as she looked at his notes. Ayato Amagiri, Julis Riessfeld, and Saya Sasamiya, though Ayato Amagiri was absent during the attack.

Ethan did immediately hound on the fact, but Julis testified in his defense, along with Saya Sasamiya. Not to mention the Amagiri family is renowned for their upstanding members. Though Ethan did underline to keep a note on the student.

They were unable to describe their attackers, but the assailants were undetectable. Saya and Julis counted two, but those were the two actively attacking them, they knew there were five present.

After the questioning, there wasn't much they could do except return to the station. No witnesses outside of the two students, no cameras in the nearby area, nothing.

Wrong place at the perfect time for the assailant.

Ethan let out a breath, the air becoming visible in the cold, winter day. "So I reviewed some of the footage you guys got from that guy's house, and I took the privilege of contacting some of my contacts in Allekant."

Sam and Sylvia turned their heads his way, "Oh I'll definitely go over that, don't give me that look. Let's get a meeting with the other people on this case first."

Sam cleared her throat, "There's only Hideki."

"Your partner?"

Sam nodded and Ethan looked at Sylvia, "What about yours?"

"It's a long story."

"Ah, so it's your fault Helga needed to waste more resources on this case."

She reddened and blurted out, "It is not mine at all."

He raised an eyebrow. "Right."

She scoffed and shoved her hands into her pockets, not seeing his amused grin that he hid from even Sam.


End file.
